Suggested Hymns from HymnSite.com

Sundays After Pentecost

Proper 25[30]

Unifying Themes:
Prayer Changes Things
Job 42:1-6, 10-17


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Jeremiah 31:7-9
God Comforts Job;
Faithful to the End






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God Gathers Israel;
Wanderers, Come Home

505: When Our Confidence is Shaken
507: Through it All
358: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
130: God Will Take Care of You
500 Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart
523 Saranam, Saranam
377: It is Well With My Soul
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348: Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling
337 Only Trust Him
694 Come, Ye Thankful People, Come
519 Lift Every Voice and Sing
Additional Suggestions
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)

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Psalm 126

God Answers the Prayers of the Afflicted;


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The Joy of Deliverance;
From Weeping to Shouts of Joy
Psalter 769, resp. 1
129 Give to the Winds Thy Fears
130 God Will Take Care of You
498 My Prayer Rises to Heaven
***
Psalter 847 resp. 2
126 Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above
416 Come Out the Wilderness
383 This is The Day of New Beginnings
394 Something Beautiful
Additional Suggestions
Mark 10:46-52 Prayer for Mercy Answered;
Jesus Meets the Needs of the Most Wretched
357 Just As I Am
351 Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior
378 Amazing Grace
340 Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

479 Jesus, Lover of My Soul
Additional Suggestions

Hebrews 7:23-28

Jesus' Priesthood;
Jesus: Our Intercessor
325 Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus
622 There is a Fountain
166 All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine
170 O How I Love Jesus
Additional Suggestions

Featured Hymn
Sweet Hour of Prayer

The United Methodist Hymnal Number 496
Text: William Walford, 1772-1850
Music: William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868
Tune: SWEET HOUR, Meter: LMD

Here's a well-known hymn by an obscure author. And perhaps that is the way it should be: the genesis of a hymn about the spiritual mysteries of prayer is itself shrounded in mystery.

Rev. Thomas Salmon (1800-1854) claims that he met William W. Walford, a blind preacher, of obscure birth and connections, without education, but with a keen mind, particularly apt at memorizing and quoting entire portions of Scripture. During a visit to him, Walford supposedly dictated the words of this hymn to Salmon, who submitted it for publication.

True, it is usually attributed to Walford, but hymnologists have never found "a blind preacher" by that exact name, living at the period of time the hymn is said to have been writen, in the village where it is said he lived and preached. The confusion over the identity of the poet has resulted in this hymn even being wrongly attributed to Fanny Crosby in times past.

William Batchelder Bradbury, the composer of the hymn tune, wrote it specifically for the text in 1861.

The hymn entered Methodist Hymnals in 1878, 1882, and 1889 with stanzas 1,3, and 4. In the 1935 Hymnal stanza 4 was dropped and stanza 2 was added in its place. This is the arrangement in the current United Methodist hymnal as well.

1. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
that calls me from a world of care,
and bids me at my Father's throne
make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul has often found relief,
and oft escaped the tempter's snare
by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
2. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
the joys I feel, the bliss I share
of those whose anxious spirits burn
with strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
where God my Savior shows his face,
and gladly take my station there,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!
3. Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
thy wings shall my petition bear
to him whose truth and faithfulness
engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since he bids me seek his face,
believe his word, and trust his grace,
I'll cast on him my every care,
and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

The omitted 4th stanza is still sung in many faith communities:

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah's lofty height,
I view my home, and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I'll drop, and rise
To seize the everlasting prize;
And shout, while passing through the air,
Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!

God bless you--
Lection at HymnSite.com

Contributed by Rev. Linda K. Morgan-Clark


Additional Suggestions for Old Testament Lections

Job: See Index listing "Comfort" p.939; see also Hymns 451-508 (Prayer, Trust and Hope)
Jeremiah: See Hymns 337-350 (Invitation)

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Additional Suggestions for Psalm Readings

Psalm 34: See Job above
Psalm 126: See Index listing, "Joy" p.946

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Additional Suggestions for Gospel Lesson

See Index listing, "Presence" p.946; see also Hymns 337-350 (Invitation)

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Additional Suggestions for Epistle Lesson

See Index listing, "Atonement" p. 944; see also Hymns 153-195 (In Praise of Christ)

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God bless you!

Passages suggested are from The Revised Common Lectionary: Consultation on Common Texts (Abingdon Press, 1992) copyright © by the Consultation on Common Texts (CCT), P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Reprinted with permission of CCT.